Fascinating Photo Taken in Cheshunt in 1963

PostPost by: paddy » Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:15 am

The Lot/us name story was stated to be true by someone senior (chief engineer?) when I went on the factory tour last year.
1963 Elan S1
User avatar
paddy
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1196
Joined: 27 Oct 2008

PostPost by: rcfurse » Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:39 am

Clearly we are taking this topic slightly off the thread but . . . Anorak is a very English expression because it derives from a very English obsession. Train spotting. Anorak refers to the warmest outer layer clothing you could buy in the 60's.They were typically worn by train spotters who gathered on station platforms and noted down the serial numbers of engines (locomotives) passing through the station.
Geek or Nerd generally refers to people engaged in indoor pursuits, typically computer/gaming related.
Richard Furse
Funemployed in N Wales
S3 DHC
S4 DHC
S4 FHC
S4/Sprint
340R
SID
14 "others"
rcfurse
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 77
Joined: 30 Dec 2018

PostPost by: 69S4 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 12:00 pm

There's a similar picture in the Robinshaw /Ross book - page 107 in my copy, taken in late '63 of Elan's /Cortinas / Elites lined up in the same yard. The RnR one looks much more like it was set up rather than a normal working day but both of them must have been taken fairly close to each other as the bare trees in the background don't look to have changed much.
Stuart Holding
Thame UK / Alpe D'Huez France
69 S4 FHC
Honda GoldWing 1800
Honda CBX1000
Kawasaki H1 500
Yamaha XS2
69S4
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: 23 Sep 2004

PostPost by: Mazzini » Wed Jan 09, 2019 1:35 pm

I see what you mean. The scout hut has gone and the car park is empty, but yes very similar.
User avatar
Mazzini
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2282
Joined: 11 Dec 2010

PostPost by: JonB » Wed Jan 09, 2019 1:39 pm

Interesting how the Elan still looks contemporary today whereas most of the other cars we can see (particularly in the staff car park) have very dated looks.

Once again I find myself wanting a (baby) Elan. Can't afford it, though!
User avatar
JonB
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2396
Joined: 14 Nov 2017

PostPost by: denicholls2 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 2:56 pm

It's amazing the bits of Lotus lore that artifacts in a single photo can evoke. More, I say!
denicholls2
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 656
Joined: 23 Jan 2006

PostPost by: denicholls2 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 3:13 pm

Lotus14S2 wrote:
Anything to make a sale. Some customers requested a custom color, so the sales department would gladly do so for an additional charge. Dealers wanted cars shipped in primer so they could paint to local tastes or customer request and pad the sale.
[/quote]

I believe it was in "Racing Car for the Road" that the author identified many U.S. import Elites as coming with paint jobs of abysmal quality. To be sold, they had to be stripped and repainted by the U.S. dealers, at their own expense. That was a big contributor to the Elite selling poorly.

At least I'm pretty sure I remember reading that somewhere. Might also explain the substantial Elite backlog in the photo.

If I were a dealer, I would much prefer to get the car in primer and save the cost of stripping or sanding a bad paint job prior to applying one on my own.
denicholls2
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 656
Joined: 23 Jan 2006

PostPost by: Elan45 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 4:11 pm

I find it interesting that the Elans sitting beside the Anglia in the foreground are white, but the 3rd and 4th ones away from the Anglia appear to have hard tops. If this is truly a 1963 photo, I thought hard tops weren't available until Ser 2 model, according to the S1-S2-Coupe parts book. Perhaps another time the literature didn't match reality.

I also find it of interest the number of vehicles sitting on the ground-no wheels. Wonder what happened to the Elites in the photo? Supposedly some were just broken and scraped, such a shame.

Back when Lotus East was selling down its inventory, I bought 4 new B/O hubcaps. They came inside one another, stacked, with old English newspaper in between. Still have never been on a car. I'll bet there was such a stack in the boot of most of these cars.

I wonder about the orange tape over the bright work. Looks intentional.

Roger
'67 Elan S3 SS DHC
'67 Elan FHC pre-airflow
'67 Elan S3 SE upgrade to 26R by Original owner
'58 Eleven S2 (ex-works)
'62 20/22 FJ (ex-Yamura)
'70 Elan +2S RHD
'61 20 FJ project
'76 Modus M1 F3
Elan45
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2518
Joined: 23 Nov 2008

PostPost by: baileyman » Wed Jan 09, 2019 4:23 pm

Are the primer cars the dull gray/blue, or is there and aged color photo effect here?

John
baileyman
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 362
Joined: 17 Aug 2017

PostPost by: prezoom » Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:08 pm

Very interesting thread. Amazing what one can learn about how cars were shipped in various states of color. Cannot speak to my Lotus cars, as I have not taken either of them down to the gel coat. However, my Elva Coupe's original color was bronze, and my Sabra GT was white, all three layers of paint, and this was from the factory. The original owner never re-painted the car. Autocar, made it easy for a dealer to re-paint the car in a different color, by painting the engine compartment and underside a dove grey. Only the exterior and door jams needed changing.
Rob Walker
26-4889
50-0315N
1964 Sabra GT
1964 Elva Mk4T Coupe (awaiting restoration)
1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero, 302,AOD,9",rack and pinion,disc,etc,etc,etc
1954 Nash Healey LeMans Coupe

Owning a Lotus will get you off the couch
prezoom
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1332
Joined: 16 Mar 2009

PostPost by: knockoffnut » Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:40 pm

I was asking about the car parked behind the two white Lotus Cortinas at the top left of the photo. It looks to like perhaps it might be a black (or BRG?) racing Elite with white roundels on the doors. I thought someone might recognize it and be able to say definitively? (perhaps Tommy Dickson's car?) Regarding why cars were shipped in primer, I know that many Elans were shipped into Canada in primer, so that dealers could paint the cars in a colour a customer was willing to buy, and close the sale without waiting for a car to be built, and shipped across the ocean, and without a dealer needing to stock a high number these expensive, low production sportscars. I am sure that the orange tape would have been applied to protect the name plates and trim during shipping. It is still common practice today to wrap part or all of a new car for shipment from factory to dealer, to protect it. Audi has nice, zippered car covers for vehicle shipment, and I have often wondered where they end up after the cars are delivered.
1963 Unicorn
1964 S1
1965 S2
1967 S3 SE DHC
Frankentwincam 26R
Seven S2 A
Seven S2 F
knockoffnut
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 227
Joined: 02 Sep 2011

PostPost by: JimE » Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:16 pm

And car covers on some of the Elites. I thought that was taboo for fibreglass cars. Jim
JimE
Third Gear
Third Gear
 
Posts: 406
Joined: 22 Jan 2017

PostPost by: elanner » Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:14 pm

Elan45 wrote:I find it interesting that the Elans sitting beside the Anglia in the foreground are white, but the 3rd and 4th ones away from the Anglia appear to have hard tops. If this is truly a 1963 photo, I thought hard tops weren't available until Ser 2 model, according to the S1-S2-Coupe parts book. Perhaps another time the literature didn't match reality.


I also thought that hardtops were introduced with the S2 but recently noticed in the first edition workshop manual that they were (notionally, at least) available with the Elan 1600. Per the attached photo.

Nick
elan-hardtop.jpg and
User avatar
elanner
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 615
Joined: 14 Sep 2010

PostPost by: Lotus14S2 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:41 pm

knockoffnut wrote:Outstanding historical picture! It does seem to support the idea that the earliest yellow Elans (built during the transition from Elite production to Elan production) were painted in Primrose yellow matching the yellow Elites. In those days I think production was running at 2 - 3 Elans per day, which would mean these three trucks would represent a week of Elan production.


The Elite shop manual states that the color on a yellow Elites was "Conway Yellow", a Ford color.

Tim
'63 Elan
'62 Elite
Lotus14S2
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 133
Joined: 31 Aug 2008

PostPost by: The Veg » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:01 am

Great picture!

And I really dig the Morris Minor woodie next to Warren's Seven! :mrgreen:
1970 Elan Plus 2 (not S) 50/2036
2012 BMW R1200GS
"It just wouldn't be a complete day if I didn't forget something!" -Me
User avatar
The Veg
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2329
Joined: 16 Nov 2015
PreviousNext

Total Online:

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests